New Zealand spinner Todd Astle was ruled out of the Test series against England in Christchurch. Meanwhile, Ish Sodhi will replace the leg-spinner.
Astle suffered a side strain during the day-night Test in Auckland and won’t recover in time to play the second Test. He played an important role in dismantling England in the second innings, as the Kiwis took a 1-0 lead.
Astle along with Neil Wagner build a formidable partnership to crush the visiting side.
He picked three crucial wickets to help New Zealand win the first day-night Test.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson expressed his disappointment in losing Astle.
“Through some incredibly hard work, Todd’s already overcome some injuries this summer,” he said. “Todd played a major role in helping us win the game at Eden Park, so it’s disappointing for Todd and the team that he’s forced to the sideline ahead of Friday,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sodhi last played against India when they toured to play a three-match Test series.
However, he had shown good form recently in the Plunket Shield match. He returned with 12 wickets against Wellington last week after ending with seven for 30 and five for 32.
However, the host had already gone 1-0 up in the two-match series putting up a formidable performance in Auckland.
They restricted England to one of their lowest ever score of 58 runs in the first innings. In reply, the host declared their innings on 427 for eight to put up a 369-run lead.
Although England improved their batting performance in the second drop, but it was not enough to save the match, as the host won the game by an innings and 49 runs.
The last match of the tour will start on March 30, as England will look to bounce back in the series and end the tour on a positive note.
Further, here is the newsfeed:
Quantum of Punishment to Decide IPL future of Smith, Warner
Tim Paine Appointed Captain, Maxwell, Joe Burns Earn Test Recall